A Day of Passion
As we drove past the historic red brick building, the fellow on my left ogled shamelessly and jockeyed for position as he clumsily reached for his cell phone and switched it on to video mode. He had this glazed, star struck look in his eye, like a Japanese tourist seeing the
There were some people on the bus who were strangely indifferent, of course, oblivious to the fact that we were in the only place in the world where passion is spelt with an “F”, but for the rest of us, the excitement was almost tangible. You see, for a car guy, the Ferrari factory in Maranello is the automotive expression of Movie World or
Standing at the famous front gates, it felt quite humbling to be breathing in the same hi-octane air as the late Enzo Ferrari, Gilles Villeneuve, Juan Manuel Fangio, and those incredible men and women that have built some of the world’s most enigmatic and fascinating super cars, that each breath I took kind of reached in and dragged that 8 year old boy out of me. I almost wet myself with excitement.
This is what Shell calls “A day of Passion”. It is a program that was developed to give their dealers and VIPs a chance to experience the raw excitement of the brand and to understand the importance of their technical partnership with the oldest team in F1 history. But honestly, I think was just a good excuse for them to be able to thrash some Ferraris around the track.
Regardless, to celebrate ten fuel-injected years of their premium fuel, V-Power, the Dutch petroleum company brought along almost a hundred journalists from every corner of the globe to show us that there’s more to their high performance fuel than just a sticker on Kimi Räikkönen weekend car.
As the sole representative for the Philippines, I took on the enormous responsibility (ahem) of taking the 24-hour flight over and flying our flag proudly – but between you and I, the biggest challenge I had to face was convincing myself that this was indeed actually work. I’m still afraid this Magsajo fellow would find a way to deduct it from my pay.
We were greeted at the factory by Jean Todt, the former Ferrari F1 team Principal, and one of the architects of Michael Schumacher and Ferrari’s incredible five consecutive world championships. The Frenchman spoke of his recent retirement from the sport’s most successful team and his position as CEO Ferrari S.p.A, and paid tribute to the technical partnership with Shell, which he has been widely credited for forging back in the mid nineties after their absence from F1.
What many fans are not aware of is that aside from enjoying the longest technical partnership in F1, Shell is also the only fuel partner to have a dedicated lab at every grand prix. And in the cutting edge world of F1, where a tenth of a second can mean the difference between being first or first of all the losers, this edge has helped them to dominate at the pinnacle of motor racing, snatching 12 driver’s championships and nine constructors championships during their partnership.
You see, in order to always remain one-step ahead of their competitors, each tank of V-Power is analyzed up to 40 times during a race weekend and specially formulated for each session, taking into account track temperature, humidity and layout. It may not sound like much but when so much is at stake, it’s the difference of, say, going to a general practitioner or a dedicated cardiac surgeon when you need open heart surgery. It also allows Shell to continuously develop their road fuels by using F1 as a technology accelerator.
And amazingly, while Formula One technology normally takes years before filtering down to our road cars, the V-Power used in Kimi’s world championship winning car is 99 percent similar to the stuff you get in the forecourts at home. Only some of the technical properties are manipulated to suit the conditions.
To demonstrate, test driver, Marc Gene, took the wheel of Michael Schumacher’s last Grand Prix car and did a few display laps around the Fiorano testing track where we were gathered, using the pedestrian version of V-Power – the exact same stuff the comes out of the pumps down the road. The difference was negligible, both in engine sound and lap times.
And, interestingly enough, aside from that, when I got a chance to ask Kimi a few questions during the afternoon exercise, he mentioned that he could not differentiate between last year’s fuel and this year’s, which of course now mandates a 5.75% ethanol mix.
Stefano Domenicali, the youngest sporting director in the paddock, also praised the efforts of Shell and credits them for giving his team the winning edge. He explained that V-Power doesn’t just work wonders in their engines, giving the cars better combustion, extra horsepower or better economy when they need it, but by using state of the art technology, the Shell engineers are able to analyze the fuel afterwards and isolate areas of concern or room for improvement; the trackside laboratory is so precise, Shell claims it can detect contamination in a fuel sample equivalent to finding a cup of sugar in Loch Ness. Impressive, but I wonder why they can’t find the actual Lochness monster then.
But enough of the boring technical stuff, after all, I don’t drive a clipboard to work so I don’t get turned on much by numbers and intimidating techno garble from men in white coats. No matter how nice they may be. Because at the end of the road, at the risk of sounding selfish, I want to know how this helps me.
Sensing the restlessness, the folks from Shell usher us into the paddock of Ferrari’s official test track. There, basking in the gentle rays of the Italian sun, were eight magnificent Ferrari F430s. If libido were a shape, it would look like this. Now this is what fuel was made for.
We were given around ten laps each. I start my flying lap by crossing the start finish line at almost 180 kilometers an hour. My hairs are standing on the back of my neck as I call up fifth gear, kiss 220, and then dive on the anchors and drop down to second almost as fast you could count it.
The ceramic brakes scrub off so much speed that it leaves me way short of my turn in point. I make a mental note to brake much later next round, but I use my slower entry to get a fast exit out of turn one and into the very technical portion that leads to the famous bridge. The chassis remains superbly composed but it is the E diff that is the quiet achiever here. The F430 uses a computer-controlled limited slip differential, similar in principal to Land Rover’s Terrain Response system which can vary the distribution of torque based on inputs such as steering angle and lateral acceleration so it bites into the corner like a hungry Rotweiler.
I’m building up an enormous amount of confidence with the ceramic brakes, and despite the fact that I can swallow a straight faster than my eyes can absorb it, I challenge myself to count one second after every fiber of my body clenches up to prepare for an inevitable impact before stomping the pedal. That is the ideal braking point. Finally, a car with bigger balls than its driver. I love it. It is so good that Ferrari claims these brakes will not fade even after 350 laps around this test track.
I tear through the gears without even a token lift of the throttle; 120 milliseconds between shifts is barely enough time for even a supercomputer to draw breath, so it would be pointless to do so. The acceleration is relentless and sounds like canvas being torn. There is no lag at all. It is so quick it feels almost virtual, and makes most SMG fitted sports cars seem almost clumsy.
I’m nearing racing speeds already. I come through the flowing chicanes, keep the power on, brush the brakes gently with my left foot, dial in some healthy portions of steering angle and feed the power in gently around the daunting sequence of corners that requires total faith, full throttle and a 100% commitment once you clear the apex.
This is the template of the modern day super car. The horsepower race will eventually taper off – it has to – otherwise Bugatti will start eating into NASA’s programs. And, as fuel prices continue to skyrocket, car companies have already been forced into taking a more conscientious approach to satisfying man’s unquenchable thirst for raw speed. The future lies in improving stopping power, fuel efficiency, faster gearboxes, aero efficiency, weight saving materials and just good ‘ole fashioned, mechanical grip. This is what makes the F430 such a joy to drive.
You can shoehorn a gazillion horsepower into a sports car, but you can only really take credit for whatever you can put on the ground. Take a lot of American muscle cars as an example – they have more power than any racecar driver worth his heel and toe could keep under control, but while they may have enough straight-line speed to frighten the bejeezus out of a Kamikaze pilot, some tend to handle like an apartment block around corners. This is probably why they like racing on ovals.
I know that after recent prices hikes, fuel has become a four-letter F word. Okay, bad example. But you know what I mean. But just as you wouldn’t drink just anything that comes out of a tap, your car deserves the same treatment. This is why every single Ferrari that rolls out of Maranello comes filled with a tank of V-Power and Shell lubricants. Because both have been made to move you. In more ways than one.
Here are some of your Backseat Driver comments, reactions and questions from last week…
I’m pissed whenever I see a police driving his car around with already expired registration for 3 years. – 09228822482
In an automatic transmission, when should we use the overdrive or how do we use it? Thanks. – 09175142295 (The overdrive serves as the extra gear in an automatic transmission. It allows your vehicle to run at a lower rpm rating – ideally saving you fuel. There is, therefore, less torque when the overdrive is turned on. Going uphill or downhill is the best time to shut it off.)
Big bikes from
Speak out, be heard and keep those text messages coming in. To say your piece and become a “Backseat Driver”, text PHILSTAR <space>FB<space>MOTORING<space>YOUR MESSAGE and send to 2840 if you’re a Globe or Touch Mobile subscriber or 334 if you’re a Smart or Talk ’n Text subscriber or 2840 if you’re a Sun Cellular subscriber. Please keep your messages down to a manageable 160 characters. You may send a series of comments using the same parameters.)
- Latest
